Customer relationship management (CRM) software is an exercise in goal-oriented simplicity. CRM grew out of the need for sales teams to take all of the disparate systems they were using to engage and manage contacts and leads, and meld them into a single unified platform for interacting with customers and closing deals.

The best CRM software gives marketers and salespeople a powerful array of tools across lead management, workflow and marketing automation, detailed reports, and beyond. At the same time, the application itself must remain easy to use and facilitate a straightforward process of taking a lead from point A to B.

The catch in all of this is that CRM systems are also easily customizable, so the solution you choose may end up bogged down in too much complexity and advanced functionality that clogs up the deal pipeline. We spoke to Nathan Kontny, CEO of Highrise, for tips on keeping your company's CRM process as simple as possible, focusing on empowering your salespeople to close deals.

1
Streamline Your Sales Process

People often reach for a CRM solution when their process has broken down, Kontny explained. Microsoft Excel isn’t working, people are overwriting each other's work, leads are falling through the cracks, and more. When choosing, adopting, and customizing your CRM solution, keeping the focus on a simple sales process is key.

"Meeting new prospects, closing new deals, and supporting current customers are the lifeblood of a company. And going with a simple solution gets you and your sales team back in the game immediately," said Kontny. "Most CRMs these days require extensive training for your team and partners. The more complicated the solution you choose, the more time you're going to spend teaching others in your company on how to use it. You don't have that kind of time because most customers new to a CRM are closing deals themselves."

2
Choose the Path of Least User Resistance

Companies that build simple tools usually keep figuring out how to remove friction and build even easier tools and features to use. Kontny said the opposite is often not true. Reducing platform friction wherever you find it is a good rule of thumb to making sure your CRM is as easy to use as possible.

"If saving time is important to you, you know that by investing in a company that brings you simple things, it'll keep striving to shave off steps in your process rather than get in your way. Even better, it'll build smarts into its tools that learn how you work and will do some of the work for you," said Kontny.

"If you're going to get anything out of this purchase, it has to be something that has easy buy-in from everyone using it. Go with the least friction, even if that means sacrificing some fancy feature you were impressed by," Kontny continued. "Remember: A CRM is only as good as the thoroughness of data people add to it. This seems so simple but it’s one of the toughest hurdles companies face. You spent time, money, and resources on that shiny new CRM but if no one uses it, then what?"

3
Support Your Workflows, Don't Rewire Them

Your sales team already has workflows in place to engage new contacts, turn opportunities into leads, and close deals. Kontny said a CRM platform's job is to augment and enhance those organizational workflows, not reinvent the wheel.

"Your company is doing well and you want to keep it that way. Pick a CRM that's flexible enough for your team in a way that doesn't make them pull their hair out by having to change all their processes," said Kontny. "Too often, a complex CRM also comes with a strict process of task management that goes off the rails when people realize it takes a total workflow overhaul."

4
Service Tickets Won't Fix Every Error

Businesses wouldn't function without helpdesk platforms and strong IT support for all of the apps and systems plugged into your enterprise infrastructure. The danger where CRM is concerned is when you rely too heavily on the IT department anytime something goes wrong. A simple CRM system often only requires a simple fix.

"Things are going to go wrong with your CRM. Someone is going to do a bad import, delete something they weren't supposed to, and so on. It's natural," said Kontny. "These mistakes only become a larger problem when people can't figure out how to fix it themselves. A simpler system allows folks to get past the trouble on their own, without waiting for lengthy support requests to fix problems."

5
Facilitate Cross-Team Collaboration

CRM doesn't exist in a vacuum. Marketers and salespeople need to coordinate with every other department in a business to turn a new customer into a loyal returning customer. If your CRM software makes it a pain to communicate and share work across teams and departments, then Kontny said something's not right.

"Most companies working with a CRM often have to involve one or more people who don't work on the same thing. Business development working with pharmacists, salespeople working with creative," said Kontny. "A simple CRM allows you to share work across teams without getting hung up on [who's] not speaking the same language. Your organization is better served by these groups working seamlessly together."

6
Lock-In Is the Enemy

Business needs change. Sometimes the software a company uses needs the same. Kontny said the CRM system you invest in should either have the flexibility to scale as your organization evolves or, at the very least, a vendor shouldn't lock you into complex technical requirements that make it difficult to make changes as quickly as you need to.

"It's important to find something that's suitable now, and either grows or gracefully allows you to graduate to the next thing," said Kontny. "Simple tools give you a process that's often easily exportable to the next thing. It's the complicated tools that lock you into their way of doing things. And you'll feel stuck the next time you need to make big changes."

7
CRM Can't Fix Everything

Buying new tools is always attractive. However, Kontny said the new purchase might shine a light on the fact that it’s not going to solve the problems you may have in your sales process.

"Leads falling through the cracks is a real problem. But an even bigger problem is making sure folks stay persistent and motivated over time to start and close deals. A swanky new CRM can help with the former but often not the latter," said Kontny. "Focus on managing the most important human challenges and then the tool will be able to do what it does best."

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